Beauty Tips For Body Care
I'm posting this for anyone who, like me, searched "peeling lips" or "exfoliative chelitis" on Google / Reddit, desperately seeking help or advice with this problem.TL;DR at the bottom.About 5 years ago, my lips got really dry. I tried using various lip balms but the skin would just get dry and flakey again and I would need to bite / peel it off just to keep my sanity and self-esteem.This problem progressively got worse. I got into a habit where every morning when I brushed my teeth I would have a build-up of dead, white skin. I'd wipe this build-up away and pick at my lips all day to keep them as smooth as possible. Sometimes it would seem like they were improving, but next day, like clockwork, they would be dry and flakey again.Googling these symptoms, I found one common term: exfoliative chelitis. A disease in which the skin on your lips is thickened and grows constantly. I found so many people claiming that they've had it for 5, 10, 15 or more years, and there was no known cure. Despair set in, I felt like I would be this way forever.Here's a few of the remedies that I tried:AquaphorLanolinHydrocortisoneCanesten (yes, really)VaselineVitamin B supplementsDrinking LOTS of waterThese helped slightly, but no matter what I would wake up the next day with dry lips.If you read articles about this disorder, you'll also find "factitious exfoliative chelitis". This means the problem is caused or exacerbated by picking, licking, etc. But this couldn't be me, I had tried leaving my lips alone for a day or two and it didn't seem to help very much. I ignored this and carried on in my belief that I was incurable.Well, flash-forward to last week. After 5 years of suffering like this, I tried to repeat an experiment that had had limited success in the past.Apply lanolin whenever possibleDo NOT pick, lick or otherwise disturb the skin on your lips under any circumstancesStay hydratedAfter a day, not much had changed. However, I resisted the urge to peel the dead skin.Two days, it almost seemed worse. This was when I gave up last time.Three days, I noticed some improvement. But I had been fooled before, so I didn't let myself get excited.Four, five, six days later, and my lips were feeling smooth like they hadn't in years. This treatment seemed to be working.Today it's been about eight or nine days since I started this. And my lips are perfectly smooth. I suffered for 5 years with this shit and all I had to do was STOP PICKING AT THE SKIN! I can't express how self-conscious this condition made me, how many social obligations I turned down because of it.There are people who legitimately have exfoliative chelitis and cannot be cured this way, no doubt, I've read case studies about it. However, based on my reading and experience, I firmly believe that the vast amount of people are like me and just need to stop picking at their lips. It's a compulsion. But it can be cured.TL;DR: You're the problem. Stop picking at your lips, stay hydrated, and use lanolin (it's the best lip balm there is). Your lips will look gross and feel awful for 3-4 days but in the long run you will be cured. I wish I learned this sooner.
Girls Blog 2015
Submitted by selxxa
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